TMT Weekly The Moscow Times : President Vladimir Putin canceled his annual end-of-year press conference

 TMT  Weekly The Moscow Times 

Dear reader,

Welcome to the latest edition of The Moscow Times' email digest, where we bring you the best of our reporting, opinion pieces and photo galleries every week.

But first, the week's top news:

President Vladimir Putin canceled his annual end-of-year press conference for the first time in a decade as the war in Ukraine enters its 10th month.

Regions across Ukraine were targeted in a fresh barrage of Russian missile strikes Friday, cutting off electricity and water for millions.

The Russian-occupied city of Donetsk was hit by the most intense wave of Ukrainian shelling since 2014, its Moscow-installed mayor said.

The European Union announced its ninth package of sanctions against Moscow and an 18 billion euro aid package for Kyiv.

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Ukraine War and Popularity Worries: Why Putin is Skipping His Annual Press Conference

The cancellation of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual press conference earlier this week was a last-minute decision taken due to growing fears the televised event would be dominated by the Ukraine war, six Kremlin and government officials told The Moscow Times. Read more

E-Scooter Firm Whoosh Seeks Russia’s First Ukraine War IPO

Russian e-scooter firm Whoosh’s plans for an initial public offering (IPO) this week — the first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — will be a test of the country’s battered capital markets after nearly 10 months of Western sanctions, analysts said. Read more

5 Graphs Analyzing Russia’s 10,000 Soldiers Killed in Ukraine

The Moscow Times created five graphs based on Mediazona and the BBC Russian Service's data to illustrate some of what we know about the men who are fighting and dying for Russia in Ukraine. Read more

Explainer: Why is Russia Trying So Hard to Capture the Small Ukrainian City of Bakhmut?

Russian forces have been attempting to seize Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region for at least seven months. But in recent weeks, the battle in and around the city has become one of the fiercest of the nine-month war in Ukraine. Read more

A Ukrainian military serviceman holds a puppy near Kherson. See more photos of Ukraine's animals in this week's photo gallery.

Andriy Dubchak / Donbas Frontliner

Opinion

What Does the Fate of Ilya Yashin Tell Us About Russia's Opposition?

By Morvan Lallouet

The author of the book “Navalny: Putin's Nemesis, Russia's Future?” examines the state of Russia's opposition through the story of recently jailed Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin. Read more

Misadventures in Late-Stage Putinism: Dozhd and the Conundrum of Exile

By Kirill Rogov

The scandal over an on-air comment by a Dozhd anchor about supporting Russia’s army is indicative of the exiled channel’s need to reassess its editorial approach. Read more

Podcast 🎧

In the latest episode of “The Word’s Worth,” MT’s Michele A. Berdy discusses how Russian legislators keep drafting laws to keep the Russian language pure — and why their efforts won’t work.

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